Chapter 5 - The Bridal Appointment
On the morning of the wedding, the venue looked like a palace built from light.
White roses climbed the arched windows. Crystal chandeliers scattered gold across the polished marble floor. Guests arrived in formal clothes while musicians rehearsed beyond the ceremony doors.
Vanessa stood before three mirrors in her lace gown, admiring the jeweled tiara Celeste had insisted Adrian purchase.
Elena entered quietly with her cane.
“You are late,” Vanessa said.
“I arrived at the time listed on my schedule.”
“I changed it.”
“No one informed me.”
Vanessa dismissed the bridal consultant and waited until they were alone.
“Today is important,” she said. “I need you to avoid making Adrian anxious.”
Elena remained composed.
“My presence makes him anxious?”
“Your dependence does. The cane, the slow walking, the constant need for attention. For one day, could you allow the focus to remain where it belongs?”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the gold handle.
“I am not competing with you.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You have been competing since the engagement.”
Behind the dark fitting-room curtain, Adrian stood motionless. A consultant had led him there through a private entrance, believing he wanted to surprise his bride.
Instead, he heard Vanessa describe his mother as an embarrassment.
He heard her say that after the wedding, Elena would no longer attend company dinners without permission.
He heard her promise to move Elena out of the family residence and into “somewhere more suitable.”
Adrian felt something inside him settle into certainty.
Then Vanessa struck the cane aside with the edge of her shoe.
May you like
Elena lost her balance.
And the future Adrian had imagined ended before his mother reached the floor.
